Seeing the World in Almost 3-D

 

QUESTION: When I was a kid in the 1950s, I received a View-Master stereoscope for Christmas. It came with several reels of photos, plus I could buy additional ones. I loved viewing photos of my favorite TV show characters, especially the westerns, as well as scenes of faraway places. As an adult, I continued my fascination with the stereoscope when I discovered an antique one at a fleamarket. It came with a box of paired photos mounted on cardboard. I’ve always wondered how the stereoscope came about? Can you give me some insight into its history?

ANSWER: A stereoscope was an instrument in which two photographs of the same object, taken from slightly different angles, could simultaneously be presented, one to each eye. This recreated the way which in natural vision, each eye views an object from a slightly different angle, separated by several inches. This is what gives humans natural depth perception. A separate lens focused each picture, and by showing each eye a photograph taken several inches apart from each other and focused on the same point, the stereoscope recreated the natural effect of seeing things in three dimensions.

Sir Charles Wheatstone invented the earliest stereoscopes, which optician R. Murray made for him in 1832. On June 21, 1838, Wheatstone gave a presentation of his invention at the Royal College of London in which he used a pair of mirrors at 45 degree angles to the user's eyes, each reflecting a picture located off to the side. It demonstrated the importance of binocular depth perception by showing that when two pictures simulating left-eye and right-eye views of the same object are presented so that each eye sees only the image designed for it, but apparently in the same location, the brain will fuse the two and accept them as a view of one solid three-dimensional object. Unfortunately, Wheatstone introduced his stereoscope the year before the first practical photographic processes became available, so he had to use drawings at first. This mirror stereoscope allowed two pictures to be used if desired.

Though David Brewster didn’t invent the stereoscope, he built a simple stereoscope without lenses or mirrors, consisting of a wooden box 18 inches long, 7 inches wide, and 4 inches high, which he used to view drawn landscape transparencies. In 1849, he suggested using lenses to unite the dissimilar pictures. This allowed a reduction in picture size, creating hand-held devices, which became known as Brewster Stereoscopes, which Queen Victoria admired when he demonstrated them at the Great Exhibition of 1851.

But Brewster couldn’t find a British instrument maker capable of constructing his design, so he took it to France, where Jules Duboscq , who made stereoscopes and stereoscopic daguerreotypes, improved the design, allowing the display of Queen Victoria’s likeness to be displayed at The Great Exhibition. Thanks to her, stereoscopes became a huge success, with 250,000 of them produced, along with a great number of stereoviews, stereo cards, stereo pairs or stereographs. Stereoscope makers sent stereographers throughout the world to capture views for the new medium and feed the demand for 3D images. They then had cards printed with these views often with explanatory text. When a user looked at them through the double-lensed viewer,  also called a stereopticon, they could see both. 

In 1861 Oliver Wendell Holmes created but deliberately didn’t patent a handheld, streamlined, much more economical viewer than had been available before. This stereoscope from the 1850s, consisted of two prismatic lenses and a wooden stand to hold the stereo card. This type of stereoscope remained in production for a century and is the type most associated with the name.

Another type of viewer was the multiple view stereoscope which allowed viewing multiple stereoscopic images in sequence by turning a knob or crank, or pushing down a lever. Antoine Claudet patented the first one in 1855, but the design of Alexander Beckers from 1857 formed the basis for many revolving stereoscopes manufactured from the 1860s onward. The user placed the images in holders attached to a rotating belt. The belt could usually hold 50 paper card or glass stereoviews, but there were also large floor standing models capable of holding 100 or 200 views.

A more advanced multiple view stereoscope was only intended for glass slides and was especially popular in France, as the printing of stereo images on glass was a French specialty popular until the 1930s. The French made most of these devices, but ICA and Ernemann also made them in Germany. Users placed the glass slides in a bakelite or wooden tray. Turning a crank or pushing down a lever to lift a slide from the tray, bringing it into the viewing position. Turning further placed the slide back in the tray and moved the tray over a rail to select the next slide. The most sophisticated and well known design was the Taxiphote by Jules Richard, patented in 1899.

In the mid-20th century, the View-Master stereoscope, first patented in 1939, featured a rotating cardboard disk which contained image pairs. It was originally popular as a way for people to virtually travel to faraway places, but by the 1950s had become a popular toy. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Coffee--The Brew of Life" in the 2023 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

The Teapot King

 

Aladdin Teapot

QUESTION: My mother was an avid tea drinker. When she was a young woman, she began buying old teapots at flea markets and yard sales. When I grew up and left to go on my own, I started giving her a teapot for her birthday. Over time, she amassed a collection of some 50 teapots. She passed away recently, and her collection has passed on to me. I chose the teapots I bought for her because of their unusual shapes, but I noticed that a good many of them seem to be marked for the Hall China Company. I’d like to continue adding to this collection. Why would so many have been made by Hall China? And as collectibles, are these teapots of any value?

ANSWER: Indeed, the Hall China Company is the king of teapots. Lots of people probably have one and don’t know it.

Gold Decorated Los Angeles Teapot

Albany Teapot

Robert Hall founded the Hall China Company after the dissolution of East Liverpool Potteries of East Liverpool, Ohio, in 1903. Taggert Hall, Robert’s son, became president following his father’s unexpected death in 1904. The company initially made jugs, toilet sets, and utilitarian whiteware. Robert T. Hall’s major contribution to the firm’s growth was the development of an economical, single-fire process for lead-free glazed wares introduced in 1911.

Robert Hall died just a year after founding his company. One of his eight children, Robert Taggart Hall, took it over and immediately began developments to introduce the single-fire process, which had first been used centuries earlier by Chinese potters during the Ming Dynasty from 1368 to 1644. His aim was to change from the two-firing manufacturing method, using first a biscuit firing and then the glaze firing. With the help of staff chemists and ceramic engineers, Hall experimented from 1904 until 1911, when the process was successful. The new process fused together the white body, color and glaze when it was fired at a temperature of 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pear Teapot

The new glazes allowed the creation of brilliant colors never before seen on American china: 47 colors developed for the new process, which allowed for rapid expansion of the company and its product selections at the onset of World War I. After tepid sales of its new housewares lines in the 1910s, the company tried designing and selling decorated teapots. The teapot business was so successful that the company decided to expand it from the original three designs to a plethora of new shapes and colors. In the 1940s the teapot business began to dwindle. By the 1960s, probably due to the increased preference for coffee by the public, teapot sales had fallen to insignificance.

In the mid-1920s, Hall China began producing a range of ware exclusively for the Jewel Tea Company. Jewel started using Hall teapots as premiums, and then expanded the promotion to include its own line of distinctive dinnerware and kitchenware.

Globe Teapot

Hall’s teapots were durable, non-porous, and unlike other types of china, didn’t craze.  The Hall palette of colors included no fewer than 47 different variations over the years.  The non-crazing process used to manufacture its pieces were made to emulate beautiful wares made in China during the Ming Dynasty, although the shapes and decor didn’t generally show any Asian influence. 

Hall also produced novelty teapots shaped like cars, footballs, and doughnuts that remain popular with collectors although they're often difficult to find today. These include the popular Nautilus and Aladdin teapots.

Nautilus Teapot

A Selection of Hall Teapots
Hall produced over 160 different shapes and color combinations of teapots. The first, the Gold Decorated Teapot line, also known as the Los Angeles teapot, was extremely popular.

Loc Angeles Teapot

The second, the Boston teapot, which also began production in 1916, came in two styles, the Boston Knob, included here, and the Boston Sunken Lid. Both came in seven sizes from one cup to seven or eight cup. The Boston is one of Hall China Company’s earliest and most enduring styles. In 1916, the McCormack Tea Company purchased the Boston in the seven cup green. The seven cup green and brown Boston teapots were the first ones carried by the Jewel Tea Company in 1924.

Boston Teapots

Philadelphia Teapot

Another teapot Hall introduced in 1916 was the New York teapot and was one of Hall’s longest running styles, available from 1916 through 1989. It was originally and continually produced in nine different sizes for the Hall hotel ware line but was also added to the Gold Decorated line in 1920.  

The Philadelphia  teapot, produced during the 1920s, came in seven different sizes, ten, seven, six, five, four, three and one and a half cups. Later in that same decade, Hall introduced the Hollywood teapot which came in four, five, six and eight cup sizes.

Tea-for-Two Teapots

From 1930 to 1996, Hall produced the Tea-for-Two, a combination teapot and a hot water pot, It’s distinguished from the Twin-Tea set by the sloped shape of the body, It can also be found as a Tea for Four set. 

Musical Teapot

From the late 1930s to the 1940s, Hall produced one of two Globe shaped teapots. The No-Drip is a Globe shape teapot with a different spout and decoration. The Globe teapot, introduced in the late 1930s, was usually found with the gold decoration pictured. By 1942 it was available in black, blue, brown, cadet, canary, delphinium, Dresden, emerald, green, green luster, ivory, marine, maroon, orchid, rose, turquoise and yellow. 

Hall’s Musical teapot, made in the 1930s, wasn’t a success. The music box, which played “Tea for Two,” sat under the teapot in a “well,” held in place with a spring clip. Often, users would wash the teapot without removing the musical box, causing damage to the mechanism. 

In 1937, Hall added the Streamline to the Gold Decorated teapot line. It featured the standard gold decoration around the top, edge, and spout found on other teapots in the line.

Streamline Teapot

Doughnut Teapot

The Automobile was one of the Hall China Company’s Novelty teapots introduced in 1938. Although it has a very unusual shape it was very popular. Introduced in 1938, the Basket was another Novelty teapot that included the Doughnut, the Birdcage, the Football, and the Basketball. In 1982, Hall was commissioned to make a caricature teapot of newly elected President Ronald Reagan. After a partial delivery the customer defaulted on the remaining order and subsequently the teapots were sold at the local Hall Closet store.  

Automobile Teapot

Rhythm Teapot

Hall China produced some of its most beautifully designed teapots in the 1930s, many of which featured Art Deco styling. Introduced in 1938 in the 8-cup size with the 6-cup introduced the following year, the Airflow was colored marine in its standard design. It was perfectly balanced and was as simple to lift as a purse, easy to pour, plus the lid wouldn’t fall off.

Hall introduced the Rhythm teapot in 1939. Originally introduced as a gold decorated teapot with gold dots on the upper two drapes, it was later a part of the Hall American line and came in over 100 different colors. That same year, Hall produced a special souvenir teapot for the 1939 New York World's Fair.

1939 New York World's Fair Teapot

Twinspout Teapot

Designer Oscar Ottoson invented the Twinspout teapot for which he received a patent in 1938. Hall China produced it for the Twinspout Pottery Company of New York.  When a user removed the lid, there were two openings, the larger for the tea and the smaller for the hot water. 

Produced from 1939 to 1963, the Aladdin teapot was one of Hall’s most popular shapes. It came with either a round or an oval opening, both with and without infusers, and in narrow and wide bodies.

Sani-Gold Teapot

During the 1940s, Hall came out with the Sani-Gold teapot. It first appeared in the 1941 Hall China Special Catalog #4. The firm made it in three and six cup sizes, with grid in the spout  to catch the tea leaves which was also shortened for easy cleaning.. The style, often referred to as “pert” was also easier to store. 

Introduced in 1940, the Hook Cover teapot, produced only in the six cup size, had a lid that wouldn’t fall off when pouring. The body has a hook over which the lid fits, thus the name.

Hook Cover Teapot

Windshield Teapot

The Windshield teapot, introduced in 1941, had a collar similar to the one worn by Queen Elizabeth I of England.

From the mid 1950s through the 1960s, Hall produced the Parade teapot as one of its Gold Decorated teapots.. It had a hook cover lid and a non-slip handle.

Hall produced the E-Style Cameo Rose teapot, designed by J. Palin Thorley, another of Hall’s top designers, exclusively for the Jewel Tea Company from the 1950s to the 1970s. Another of its noted designers was Donald Schreckengost who designed the Pear teapot, first introduced in 1970.

E-Style Cameo Rose Teapot

Airflow Teapot

Hall China produced so many teapots during its existence that it’s nearly impossible for a collector to collect them all. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Coffee--The Brew of Life" in the 2023 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Buckets of Fun at the Seashore

 

QUESTION: As I was browsing a local antique mall, I noticed an old tin sand pail sitting on a shelf along with a variety of other old toys. Seeing it brought back a flood of memories of vacations at the seashore with my family. Every summer, my father would pack up the car for our week at the New Jersey shore. Two items I made my father pack were my tin sand pail and shovel—indispensable for building sand castles. I never thought of sand pails as collectibles and seeing one on a shelf with other old toys was a surprise. What can you tell me about how these little pails got their start?

ANSWER: Sand pails appeal to both boys and girls around the world. Even those living  from the seashore played with their pail and shovel in a sandbox at school or at home in the backyard or by a lakeside. Sand pails weren’t expensive; costing just a few cents, a small price to pay to set a child's imagination off on an adventure. 

Originally, craftsmen made sand pails of wood, decorated with either a simple designs or lettering hand-painted or stenciled around them to appeal to children. After about 1840 tinsmiths started to use tin to make toys. Initially, they made pails from 12 by 14-inch sheets of tin plate imported from Wales. The small size of the sheets restricted the size of these early pails to about 4 ½  inches in diameter. As tin plate technology developed, larger, thinner sheets became available and tin plate started to be produced in the U.S. 

The designs on the earliest tin sand pails were simple, following the pattern of the earlier wooden pails with few bands of color or some letters applied free hand or stenciled over a japanned finish. Japanning consisted of several layers of paint followed by a coat of lacquer. As the market grew the decoration became more complex, a process imported from France in which tinsmiths employed a mixture of varnish and paint burned on in alcohol, then baked to produce a thin translucence to the finish.

They also used embossing on other pails to accentuate the design or lettering. It usually involved a stamping or rolling process so that parts of the surface were raised up while the pail was still in sheet form. It was then very easy to enhance the raised portions with a second color, using a paint pad or roller. 

A major technological advance came in the late 1880s with developments in lithography allowing this printing process to be applied to thin tin sheets. This innovative process printed with a detail that had previously only been possible on paper. This transformed the making of toys, as well as tin food cans and tin advertising signs. It was then possible to use multiple colors and produce fine detailing and a smooth, relatively hard wearing, durable finish. A lithographic press printed the designs and colors on flat sheets of metal from which toys could be formed using tools and dies.

By the turn of the 20th century a family visit to the seashore had become very popular.  America was on the move on weekends and took annual vacations in places like Coney Island, Atlantic City, Asbury Park, or Cape Cod.

Additionally, developments in the technology of printing processes in the 1930s enhanced the colors and details possible on tin pails, and several of the toy manufacturers employed famous illustrators to design the graphics.

The 1930s and 1940s with the popularity of radio and the movies created new heroes, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Snow White along with the Seven Dwarfs all appeared on pails, spades, sprinkling cans and water pumps. The traveling circus was extremely popular. Exotic animals performing amazing acts along with daring performers and clowns with their crazy antics all have their place on beach pails.

As the years passed, cowboys chasing Indians across the range and other Western themes became popular from the influence of television programming. Then the atomic age with space travel captured the imagination and took its place on sand pails.

Tin sand pails and shovels offered a designer a large surface on which to tell a story. Children could identify with the events depicted on pails by The Ohio Art Company of Bryan, Ohio, Kirchoff Patent Company of Newark, New Jersey, T. Cohn Co. of Brooklyn, New York, or U.S. Metal Toy Manufacturing Company of New York. Toddlers could recite favorite nursery rhymes as they looked at the four sides of a beautifully illustrated square sand pail by Julius Chein and Company of New Jersey, or delight in the exploits of Disney characters.

Children delighted in swashbuckling heroes and pirates and acted out their own stories, their pails becoming little treasure chests to transport shells from the water's edge to their ever growing sand piles. 

People are often surprised at the higher prices collectors pay for Victorian and early 20th-century sand pails. This is particularly true of examples showing early airplanes, dirigibles, steamships, Old Glory, the American Eagle, early teddy bears, early Disney characters. 

Condition is everything when collecting tin sand pails, as with other tin-lithographed toys. The design may be worth $500 or $5 the only variable with be condition. Rust, dents, missing parts and major scratches have a serious impact on value.

In establishing an antique or vintage sand pail’s value, subject matter of the illustration on it is also extremely important. Size has no real effect on value. Some collectors like large pails to display on shelves or hang from ceilings, while others prefer the mid-size ones to exhibit in small cases. Many more collect all sizes and include the minipails that were first candy containers, grouping them eclectically.

As with any toys, the best examples of tin sand pails, in mint or excellent condition l always sell for the highest prices. Considering what children did with their sand pails, it’s a wonder any survived at all.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Coffee--The Brew of Life" in the 2023 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

The Mark of the Lady of the House

 

QUESTION: I recently purchased a beautifully crafted device at an antique show. The dealer called it a chatelaine and said that it dated to the 1860s. What attracted me to it were the small objects attached to individual chains which in turn were connected to belt clip. I’m sure it will become quite a conversation piece in my home. What can you tell me about its origins and uses?

ANSWER: During Victorian times, many women, either mistresses of the house or housekeepers in large mansions, who were in charge of keeping the keys to doors, drawers, and cabinets, wore a decorative belt hook with a series of chains suspended from it, called a chatelaine at their waist. Household items, including a small pair of scissors, a thimble, a pendant watch, a vinaigrette (to use in case someone fainted), a stamp holder, a match safe, and a household seal, hung from the chains. But the most important items hanging from the chatelaine were the keys needed by the person who managed the household.

The name chatelaine is a French term referencing the "lady of the castle." In its earliest form worn during the Middle Ages, a chatelaine hooked to a belt that held keys kept by the woman of the house. The chatelaine evolved, and chains were added to hold various implements. Both men and women wore them, with men's versions holding watches, knives, wax seals, and the like.

Women as far back as ancient Rome wore chatelaines from which hung ear scoops, nail cleaners, and tweezers. Women in Roman Britain wore “chatelaine brooches” from which they hung toilet sets.

Widely worn from the 1600s through the early 1900s, chatelaines allowed women to keep necessary objects handy. Women’s clothes didn’t have pockets, at least not big enough to hold much. A chatelaine kept a lady’s necessities together and available at all times. There were chatelaines for sewing and some for writing and some plainer ones that held keys.

These items were clipped to a belt or the top of a skirt most of the time, but some versions have pin-backs. Each implement was hooked to its chain so that the item could be detached, used, and reattached. Examples of objects dangling from a lady’s chatelaine would be scent bottles, mirrors, button hooks, sewing and needlework tools, pencils, and notepads.

The chatelaine became a status symbol for women in the 19th century. The woman who held the keys to all the many desks, chest of drawers, food hampers, pantries, storage containers, and many other locked cabinets was "the woman of the household." As such, she was the one who gave directions to the servants, housemaids, cooks and delivery servicemen. She would also open or lock the access to the valuables of the house. 

Frequently, the woman who wore the chatelaine was the senior woman of the house. When a woman married a son and moved into his father's house, the son's mother would usually hold on to the keys. However, if the mother became a widow, the keys and their responsibilities and status became the responsibility of the eldest son's wife. 

Younger women and daughters in the house, who wanted it to appear as if they had this responsibility, would often wear an intricate chatelaine without the keys, but with a variety of other objects. Instead of the keys, they attached bright and glittering objects, which she could use to start a conversation. If there wasn’t a woman of the house, the person who’s responsibility it was to hold the keys was often a hired housekeeper.

While women purchased complete chatelaines, they often would buy other objects to hang on them, perhaps while traveling, much like charms on a charm bracelet. 

One of these objects was the vinaigrette bottle. These came in a variety of colors and designs, including ruby red glass, covered with a gilt brass casing, decorated with birds or flowers. These little bottles had hinged gilt lids which closed tightly. Women used them to recover from fainting spells—a malady in Victorian times. 

Besides the household chatelaine described above, women also had specialized chatelaines. The one most used was a sewing chatelaine. On its chains hung items that would help the owner with sewing chores. Often craftsmen made these of European silver which has 800 parts silver and is stronger than sterling which has 925 parts silver, thus making it softer.

On one of the chains hung an Etui, a small box on which would have been decorated with perhaps rural scenes or floral designs which could hold pins or other sewing necessities. 

On two of the other chains hung a large and a small needle holder. These may have been decorated with a repousse of small animals or plants. Some needle holders had the shape of fruits, such as strawberries, and were about one and half to three inches long.

Another chain held a sterling hinged thimble holder with an emery tip and a sterling silver size 9 thimble inside. Yet another held a sterling silver scissor case with sterling handled scissors and sterling capped acorn shaped emery. The sewing chatelaine also included a small notebook and a retractable pencil, and it might also include a round pincushion between two disks.

Finally, a sewing chatelaine could also contained a scent bottle. Many ladies had a scent bottle on their sewing chatelaine's to store clean water in so they could clean the tips of their fingers to keep the garment or quilt they were working on clean. Some small etui's have little glass bottles on the inside that held clean water. In the 19th century there weren't sinks everywhere in which women could wash their hands.

Since the purses carried by Victorian women were rather small, some wore a special chatelaine when they went to parties or went dancing. Dangling from its chains was a small container holding face powder, a small mirror, and a small notebook and pencil for jotting down names and addresses of people she met. It might even have had a tiny photograph album containing four photos of her family which she could show to other guests.

Craftsmen used gold or silver to fashion most chatelaines. Some had beautiful intricate vitreous enamel decorations. Most chatelaines were between 8 and 13inches long and between 2 and 3 inches wide. 

Most chatelaines extended 8 to 13 inches down from a woman’s waist. The chatelaine itself, with no attachments, often measured 10 inches long, including the small central drop.  

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Coffee--The Brew of Life" in the 2023 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Little Japanese Treasures

 

QUESTION: While most people go to antique shows looking for items to add to their collections, I go to see what I can discover that I’ve never seen before. And though the larger items dominate the show, I prefer to look in the glass cases of smalls—objects too small to display on the table by themselves. At a recent show, I was looking intensely in one of these display cases and discovered several small sculptures of figures and animals. Some seemed to be made of ivory or bone while others had been carved from various types of exotic hardwoods. The dealer referred to them as “netsuke” and added that they usually hung on the strings of an inro, a small wooden purse worn by men in traditional Japanese dress. What can you tell me about these intriguing items? They weren’t cheap, so I’m guessing that they’re pretty valuable.

ANSWER: Antique Japanese netsuke (pronounced "netski") have been prized by collectors since the late 19th century for their beauty and aesthetic appeal. From the 17th through mid-19th century, Japanese citizens wore the kimono, a simple T-shaped robe wrapped around the body and held in place with an obi sash. In order to carry small items such as tobacco, medicine, and seals, ingeniously made sagemono, meaning  “hanging things,”) hung on cords from the obi sash

Netsuke served as anchors or counterweights for stacked, nested containers, known as inrô and sagemono which held personal seals and medicine. Eventually, craftsmen divided the inro into sections to hold money, perfume, and tobacco. The wearer threaded a single cord through a cord channel on one side of the suspended container, through two holes in the netsuke, then through the other side of the container, and knotted on the underside of the container. A decorative bead, or ojime, slid along the cord between the netsuke and sagemono, allowing the user to open and close the container.

The wearer would slip the netsuke under and dangle it over the obi, allowing the sagemono to hang suspended between waist and hip. In order to access the contents of the sagemono, the wearer slipped the netsuke behind the obi sash, liberating the ensemble. By sliding the ojime toward the netsuke, the contents of the container could easily be accessed.

Originally worn as part of a male kimono ensemble by men of the warrior class, inro and netsuke evolved into a mark of class, with warriors at the top, followed by farmers who tilled the land, artisans who crafted material goods, and merchants at the bottom.

Because merchants were economically better off than many members of the socially superior military class, inro and netsuke also allowed merchants to display their wealth.  Inro and netsuke, often made of expensive, rare materials and bearing the signature and seal of the carver, were an indication of wealth. 

Sculptors most often carved netsuke from wood or ivory, but as their popularity and status increased, they made them of richer materials, such as mother of pearl, porcelain, lacquer, amber, and semi-precious stones. If a collector finds a netsuke made of two materials, it's probably from a later period. Ranging in size from one to three inches, sculptors carved these tiny treasures in a wide variety of forms, including shells, animals, vegetables, and favorite characters from Oriental folklore and religion.

Netsuke carvers preferred boxwood for its fine grain and durability. They also used various types of native Japanese wood—cypress, cherry, black persimmon, yew, camphor, zelkova, and camellia. However, one of the most popular materials for netsuke was elephant tusk ivory. 

These little sculptures came in many forms, such as badgers, known for their mischievous pranks, or carp, the symbol for courage. Some took the shape of a  baku, a mythic, elephant-like creature believed to eat the nightmares of those who sleep on a piece of paper bearing its name.

Netsuke carvers worked with general subjects but in an often lighthearted, humorous way. Originally, they created netsuke of wood to be worn, and eventually discarded after daily use. Carvers also made sure their netsuke had no sharp edges and balanced them so they hung correctly on the man’s sash. A netsuke’s size depended on the weight of the inro and the proportions of the owner.

Carvers used the tusks of walrus or narwhal or the teeth of a sperm whale, as well as woods such as mahogany and ebony, to carve the best netsuke. Most of the best netsuke sculptors at the peak of fancy netsuke lived near where marine ivory was more plentiful. They began using this material because they knew how to carve it. It’s not only the subject of each netsuke, rather than the material used, but the extraordinary workmanship that gives each one its special artistic appeal.

Traditionally, netsuke carvers worked in specific formats. Three-dimensional figures, or katabori, account for the most of them. Carved in the round and often referred to as miniature sculptures, the undersides of which were also completely carved. Rounded forms, named after the round sweet bean cakes they resemble, were also quite popular. Another conventional netsuke shape is the kagami, or mirror, consisting of a round, bowl-shaped base and a lid fashioned of a flat disk of metal. Craftsmen employed a variety of metals, such as brass, bronze, copper, gold, iron, pewter, and silver. Carvers favored two alloys, shakudo, made by combining copper and gold,  and shibuichi, combining copper and silver, for their range of colors and patina.

Carvers drew on varied themes for these accessories—nature, mythical tales, historical figures, masks used in theatrical performances, and gods and demons. Other themes included h erotica, the grotesque, or parodies and satirical depictions of elite culture. 

Some of the best Japanese artists, such as Yamada Hojitsu and Shuzan, carved netsuke. But it’s those who specialized in making them that collectors prefer.

Eventually, netsuke represented the fashions, fancies, and fables of Japanese society. After the reopening of Japan to the West in 1853, Japanese gentlemen soon took to wearing western style suits with pockets, and the need for carrying an inro with its accompanying netsuke quickly disappeared.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Coffee--The Brew of Life" in the 2023 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.